Responsibly produced soy for Switzerland

The Soy Network Switzerland supports the cultivation and marketing of responsibly produced soy. The members of the Network undertake to promote the purchase and use of certified soy products and to actively support the Network's objectives and implement concrete measures. The aim of the Network is for at least 90% of soy for the Swiss market to be responsibly produced and GM-free by 2014.

Main use in animal feedSoy is one of the most-traded commodities worldwide. It contains important proteins and oils with versatile uses such as food, animal feed and many industrial applications. Around 80% of the soy produced globally is used as animal feed, mainly for pigs and chickens but increasingly also for cattle. Soy is also an important food ingredient, in the form of lecithin, flour, tofu, protein or oil.

Environmental consequences Due to the rising consumption of meat and eggs and the feed ban on animal protein, the demand for soy has more than doubled in the last 20 years to around 265 million tons. The resulting expansion of soy production has taken place mainly in South America, involving the erosion of large areas of tropical forest and species-rich savannas and, in some cases, a disregard for workers' rights. The Swiss Network for Sustainable Soy cannot address all the problems of global soy production. However, it hopes to help reduce the problems by taking on a role model function to be replicated across the world.

News

In 2014, according to Customs statistics, Switzerland imported 250'445 tonnes of soya meal. The proportion of responsibly produced and certified soya amounted to 82 per cent of the total. During the last four years the import of soya meal decreased by 38'000 tonnes.

Martin Rufer, Swiss Farmers Union

"The Swiss farming industry relies on sustainability. We therefore support the promotion of responsibly produced soy."